City of Beaufort extends mask requirement. Here’s how long you’ll have to wear one
The city of Beaufort extended its mask requirement through mid-September in an effort to get coronavirus under control.
The rule requires people to wear masks inside buildings open to the public and for businesses to require employees to wear masks when in areas open to the public and when around other employees. There are exceptions for those who can’t wear a mask because of age or health issues.
The ordinance is now in effect through at least Sept. 15 after Beaufort City Council unanimously agreed to extend the requirement Tuesday.
“I think the point of the mask is you care for other people and their health,” Councilwoman Nan Sutton said, referencing her chronic lung issue. “... But if I were 100 percent healthy, I would wear a mask to protect the other people I know who might be in danger.”
Sutton, who owns Lulu Burgess gift shop on Bay Street, said most people who enter her store have been wearing masks since the rule was enacted July 1.
Not wearing a mask is a civil infraction and a $50 fine would be the penalty after a warning. Businesses found to repeatedly violate the rule could be subject to a court injunction or a suspended or revoked business license.
As of early last week, the city had issued 51 warnings and no fines through two weeks of the rule. No businesses had been warned or sanctioned.
Beaufort County and the towns of Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Port Royal and Yemassee have passed similar rules. Violating the county’s requirement carries a civil penalty, while Hilton Head’s infraction is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine and jail time.
In a separate decision Tuesday, the Beaufort City Council determined Bridges Preparatory Charter School didn’t need a special exception to the mask rule. The school’s board chairman had asked city leaders to allow students and staff at the K-second grade campus on Boundary Street to go without masks if needed.
Council members said given the age of students and protocols the school plans, the school appeared to already be in compliance.
